Serbian IM Zdenko Krnic, the Chess informant’s editor, has this to say about it:
“The young Cuban grandmaster Leinier Dominguez Perez has soared like a meteor and crossed the magic boundary of 2700 rating points. Thus, he has become a welcome participant in the strongest tournaments. One aspect of his play that enables him to stay in the chess elite is his exceptionally thorough theoretical preparation.
“Although the nominees for Best Game included top players such as Anand, Kramnik, Carlsen, and Ivanchuk, the Chess Informant jury awarded the prize, by a decisive margin, to the victory of Dominguez over Morozevich at the tournament in Wijk aan Zee. I cannot help but admire the impressive move 13.Na4, and I can only imagine Morozevich’s shock at that moment.”
Game of the week. Dominguez Perez and J. Ibarra annotate.
White: L. Dominguez Perez (2717)
Black: A. Morozevich (2771)
Sicilian Najdorf
Wijk aan Zee 2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.f3 b5 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.g4 Nb6 12.g5 b4 [12…Nh5] 13.Na4!! [a novelty; 13.Nb1] Ne4 [13…Na4 14.gf6 Qf6 (14…gf6 15.Qb4 Qc7 16.Rd2 and White is slightly better; 16.Bd3 and White is superior) 15.Ba6 Rb8 16.Na5 and White is superior] 14.fe4 Na4 15.Qb4 Qc7 16.Rd2 Bd7 [16…Nc5 17.Nc5 dc5 18.Qa4 Qc6 19.Qa6 c4 20.Qc6 Rc6 21.c3 and White is slightly better] 17.Qa5 Qc6 [17…Qa5 18.Na5 Be7 19.Rg1 Nc5 20.Bc5 Rc5 21.b4 Rc7 22.Ba6 and White is slightly better] 18.Ba6 Rb8 [18…Qe4?? 19.Bc8! Qh1 (19…Bc8 20.Qb5 Ke7 (only move) 21.Re1 and White is winning) 20.Rd1 Qc6 21.Bd7 Qd7 (21…Kd7 22.Qa4 Qa4 23.Nc5 and White is winning) 22.Qa8 Ke7 (only move) 23.Na5! and White is winning; 18…Ra8 19.Bb5 Qe4 (19…Ra5? 20.Bc6 Ra6 21.Bb7 and White is winning) 20.Bd7 Kd7 21.Qb5 (21.Qa4? Ra4 22.Nc5 Ke7! 23.Ne4 Re4 24.Rd3 Ke6 and Black is slightly better) Qc6 22.Qc6 Kc6 23.Rf2 and White is slightly better] 19.Rd5! [and White is slightly better, with the idea Re5, weak points Ke8, Rb8, Na4] Be7 (only move) 20.Ba7 Ra8 [20…Bg5 21.Kb1 Bd8 22.Qd2 Rb3 23.ab3 Qa6 24.Be3 and White is slightly better] 21.Bb5 Qb7 22.Qa4 Ra7 23.Na5 Qc7 [23…Bg5 24.Kb1 Qc7 25.Rhd1 0-0 26.Bd7 Qd7 27.Qd7 Rd7 28.Nc4 and White is superior] 24.Rhd1 Bb5?! 25.Qb5 Kf8 only move [25…Qd7?? 26.Qb8 Bd8 27.Rd6 and White is winning] 26.Kb1! (and White is superior) g6 27.Nc4 Rb7 28.Qa4 Qb8 [28…Kg7 29.Nd6 Bd6 30.Rd6 h6 31.Rd7 Qb6 32.Rb7 Qb7 33.Rd7 Qb6 34.gh6 Rh6 35.b4 Rh2 36.Qb3 Rf2 37.a4 and White is superior] 29.b3 Ra7 30.Qc6 Rc7 31.Rb5! Qa7 [31…Rc6 32.Rb8 Kg7 33.Rh8 Kh8 34.a4 and White is winning] 32.Qd5 Qf2 33.Qd2 (and White is winning) Qf3 [33…Qd2 34.Rd2 Bg5 35.Rd6 Bf4 36.Rd8 Kg7 37.Rh8 Kh8 38.h3] 34.Nd6 Bg5 35.Nf5! Rc8 36.Rb8! and 1-0.
Puzzler.
White — Ka4, Ba6, Nb8, Nc6, Qc1, pawns on e3 and h4
Black — Kd5, Nd6, Rf7, Bh7, Rh3, pawns on b3, c4, c7, d4, e6 and f3
White to play and mate in four.
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